Margot Robbie scores a best actress Oscar nomination

a still from a film called The Eleven O'Clock starring Damon Herriman (left) and Josh Lawson. No photographer credit.

Australian actress Margot Robbie has an appointment with the Oscars.

The 27-year-old Queensland-born actress was nominated for her work on the film I, Tonya.

But she is not going alone: Australian film editor Lee Smith was nominated for his work on the World War II epic Dunkirk.

And Australian filmmakers Derin Seale and Josh Lawson were nominated for their live-action short film, The Eleven O'Clock.

Seale, a director, is the son of Australian cinematographer John Seale, while Lawson is best known for his work as an actor, on series such as House of Lies and the Seven miniseries Hoges: The Paul Hogan Story.

Directed by Seale and written by and starring Lawson, The Eleven O'Clock also stars Australian actors Damon Herriman and Eliza Logan.

Lawson quickly shared his surprise and incredulity on social media: "If I'm dreaming, please no one wake me up," he posted.

Tuesday morning so far: - woke up - had a coffee - got nominated for an OSCAR!!

New Zealand-born producers Tim Bevan and Anthony McCarten were also nominated for the film Darkest Hour.

In many respects, the unveiling of the nominations for the 90th annual Academy Awards - considered the greatest award in the art of filmmaking - was historic.

Rachel Morrison's nomination as best cinematographer for Mudbound and Greta Gerwig's nomination as best director for Lady Bird were properly historic: they are the first and fifth women, respectively, nominated in those two categories in the history of the Oscars.

Less obvious perhaps is the stunning prominence of The Shape of Water, Guillermo del Toro's horror masterwork, which led the nominations with nods in 13 categories.

Sally Hawkins plays a non-speaking woman named Elisa in The Shape of Water Photo: Supplied

In historic terms, the horror genre does not play well with Oscar voters, and its dominance of this year's awards suggests the Academy's efforts to open up the demographics of its voting membership - historically older and male - is having an impact.

Some way behind The Shape of Water was Dunkirk with eight nominations and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri with seven.

The prominence of The Shape of Water also reshapes the "race for best picture", which dominates analysis of the Academy Awards and the "awards season" which precedes it.

Margot Robbie at the Australian premiere of I, Tonya in Sydney on Tuesday. Photo: AAP

Until last weekend's Producers Guild of America awards, many would have said Three Billboards was the strongest contender going into the Oscars but the PGA win for The Shape of Water reshaped that race.

The PGA's Darryl F. Zanuck award, which The Shape of Water won, has foreshadowed 19 of 28 best picture Oscar winners since its inception, close to a 70 per cent success rate.

Two films which last year were considered likely Oscar material - All the Money in the World and The Post - made a poor showing on nomination day.

All the Money in the World was excluded from best picture but took a nod for Christopher Plummer's work as a last-minute replacement for Kevin Spacey, while The Post made best picture but only has one other Oscar nod, for actress Meryl Streep.

And two actors are noticeably absent.

Armie Hammer's performance in Call Me My Your Name was considered one of the season's best but Hammer did not make it into the supporting actor category.

James Franco, meanwhile, whose performance in The Disaster Artist has won him strong notices and a prominence during awards season, was no doubt damaged by reports of inappropriate sexual conduct which were aired in the final weeks of Oscar voting.

Film awards season falls between November and February and includes approximately a dozen key events including the Gotham awards, the New York and Los Angeles Film Critics Circle awards, the Golden Globes, the Producers, Screen Actors and Directors Guild awards, the British Academy Film Awards and, finally, the Academy Awards.

The 83rd New York Film Critics awards gave their best film award to Lady Bird, which also won the comedy/musical best film at the Golden Globes; the 43rd annual Los Angeles Film Critics awards gave their best film award to Call Me By Your Name, while del Toro won best director for his work on The Shape of Water.

America's National Society of Film Critics awards also named Lady Bird best picture.

The final window of Oscar voting begins on Tuesday, February 20 and ends one week later; the winners of the 90th annual Academy Awards will be announced at a ceremony in Los Angeles on Sunday, March 4.